The Webcomic Overlook #130: Ctrl+Alt+Del (Part 2)
August 9, 2010 at 11:07 am | Posted in 1 Star, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, comedy webcomic, dramatic webcomic, slice-of-life webcomic, video game webcomic, webcomics | 36 CommentsTags: Ctrl+Alt+Del, ctrl+alt+delete
(This is Part Two of a very special Two Part retrospective of Ctrl+Alt+Del. Please click here to read Part One.)
The sum of Ctrl+Alt+Delete‘s early run can easily be summed up by one of the most notorious advertising campaigns in video game history: the ad for Daikatana. So, basically, creator John Romero thought it would be a good idea to sort of do a parody of gamer talk. So he put together a simple red poster with a very simple slogan: “John Romero’s About To Make You His Bitch.” This was supposed to be ironic, of course.
It went over as well as you would expect.
So far, Buckley’s put together a comic about gamers being moronic troglodytes, emotionally stunted man children, and gamer girls with no personality, while each parody needs to be explained over and over again while the violent punchlines are pretty much telegraphed since panel one. Meanwhile, Buckley’s Mary Sue, Ethan, becomes crowned King of All Gamers, pwns all the world’s religions, and envisions a story where video games can save your marriage. Ironically, of course.
That went over as well as you’d expect.
But now it’s different. Now that Tim Buckley has crossed the bridge from wacky humor to maudlin drama, we’re now reading a totally new comic. the upgrade that finally makes CAD a comic that deals with serious issues.
Welcome to CAD 2.0.
Continue reading The Webcomic Overlook #130: Ctrl+Alt+Del (Part 2)…
The Webcomic Overlook #130: Ctrl+Alt+Del (Part 1)
August 2, 2010 at 9:20 pm | Posted in 1 Star, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, comedy webcomic, dramatic webcomic, video game webcomic, webcomics | 53 CommentsTags: Ctrl+Alt+Del, ctrl+alt+delete
I like Rob Liefeld.
It’s sort of an out there thing to say. Nowadays, when most people mention the name “Rob Liefeld,” they like to talk about pouches, no feet, ridiculous muscles on muscles, impossibly small waistlines on the women, and that one Captain America picture. I get that.
Still, if people were craving artists who drew in “How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way” dimensions, how come there’s no alternate movement to honor the likes of Dan Jurgens, Tom Grummett, or Jerry Ordway? What people are forgetting is that when Liefeld broke out onto the scene, the rigidly standard character designs were prevalent and, frankly, very dull. A style, though, that placed more value in the visceral over realism? The guy running the “I Love Rob Liefeld” blog summed it best:
I thought it was AWESOME. The energy, the power, the thrill of super-heroes beating the snot out of super-villains. I loved it.
I understand all the criticisms. I know Liefeld can’t really draw well. Look, you don’t have to send me that link to Progressive Boink. I’ve seen it. But I don’t care. Liefeld was one of the biggest reasons I started collecting comics, so he’s OK by me.
I mention Liefeld because, in a way, I totally understand what it’s like to be a fan of Tim Buckley’s much maligned webcomic, Ctrl+Alt+Del. Perhaps no other webcomic has been so widely mocked by critics and by fellow webcomic creators. Yet it still frequently pops up on a lot of people’s “Best Of” lists, including many people whose opinions I value.
Once upon a time, I called Tim Buckley “the Rob Liefeld of webcomics” … maybe he can’t draw, maybe he’s a bit of a hot-head, maybe a lot of his fans hate what he did to the genre … but if you ignore him, you’ll never get a full picture of what webcomics (or in Rob’s case, comics in the 90′s) were really all about. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s time to put that theory to the test.
Continue reading The Webcomic Overlook #130: Ctrl+Alt+Del (Part 1)…
The Webcomic Overlook #120: Marilith
May 16, 2010 at 8:08 pm | Posted in 1 Star, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, action webcomic, adventure webcomic, comedy webcomic, fanservice, manga style webcomic, webcomics | 23 Comments
A few weeks ago, the Bad Idea Fairy beckoned to me. “El Santo,” they said, “see what present we have given you on Netflix. Look, it’s that Hudson Hawk movie starring Bruce Willis that everyone hates. But they’re wrong. They’re all wrong. It’s a misunderstood work of genius. Watch the movie… then give me your immortal soul so that you dance for me in Otherworld forever. Muhuhahahaha!”
There’s only so much time you can listen to the seductive voice of the Bad Idea Fairy before you cave in to temptation. Yes, yes, Hudson Hawk is such a notoriously terrible movie that it’s been savaged mercilessly at both the AV Club and Agony Booth. Yet, I know several bad movie cultists who love this odd duck of an action movie that doesn’t take itself seriously. They think it’s misunderstood, perhaps even ahead of its time. Among these people are Bruce Willis, who originally was right there with the critics in agreeing that Hudson Hawk was a mess, but has gone back to declaring the movie a work of hidden genius in the latest commentary track.
These people are wrong.
Hudson Hawk‘s central plot is about a master thief named Hudson Hawk who gets recruited by mobsters, corrupt CIA agents, and evil businessmen to do their bidding. The movie throws several absurd elements to show everyone that it’s all in good fun: Bruce and his partner time their robberies to radio hits from the 40’s, all the CIA agents are named after candy bars, a machine has to be assembled that turns lead into gold, fights are augmented with Looney Tunes sounds, and David Caruso plays a mute who, at one point, dresses up like a statue.
Sounds fun, right? I mean… who doesn’t want to see a young David Caruso caked in powdery white make-up? (And if you look closely in another scene in the movie, the future Horatio Cane does an version of his now world-famous sunglasses move.) One huge problem though: none of the movie makes any sense. Everyone spends so much time trying to convince you how wacky everything is that it gets kinda tiring. None of the motivations are clear, nor are any of the characters convincing, likable, or sympathetic. It’s like being stuck in a room where someone’s telling terrible jokes: you’re itching at the first opportunity to get out of there. And it didn’t have to be that way, either: Stephen Chow’s Kung-Fu Hustle is a gag-a-minute action flick, and I find that movie a million times more watchable than Hudson Hawk.
So what’s the point about talking about Hudson Hawk? Other than to obviously tell you to stay far, far away from this terrible movie? It turns out that today’s comic, Krazy Krow’s Marilith — which was recommended to me by a loyal reader (gee, thanks) —- is very, very similar in tone and content to Hudson Hawk. Both the movie and this webcomic even have an unattainable coffee-related goal that doesn’t get resolved until the final scene. It’s almost like … serendipity. Curse you, Bad Idea Fairy… clearly this is YOUR doing!
Marilith a webcomic that, God bless ‘em, tries to be wacky and fun and action-packed at the same time, but ends up … *puts on sunglasses* … shooting itself in the foot.
The Webcomic Overlook #111: Las Lindas
March 4, 2010 at 4:53 pm | Posted in 1 Star, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adult webcomic, comedy webcomic, furry webcomic, romance webcomic, webcomics | 27 CommentsTags: Las Lindas
There are two sure signs of getting older. The first is that your parents’ lame jokes are suddenly funny. The second is that when you start watching movies of teenage rebellion, you start identifying with the stuffy old deans.
Like the time when you realize that the free-wheeling Ferris Bueller is really just tiresome, selfish, and destructive. In a stunning reversal,we root for the principal, who wants nothing more than to take that preening snot down a peg. The kid from Where the Wild Things Are is an annoying little brat. The New Radicals don’t quite sound so radical. Evanescence is less a paean of teenage rebellion than it is music that is, like, so totally embarrassing. Even Luke Skywalker starts to sound a little whiny.
The sense of being powerless probably leads us to idolize rebellion. On the flipside, gaining power means that we’re more careful to practice it since we know what happens when that power is abused irresponsibly. Or, to put it more succinctly, we’re growing up, and that means identifying just the teensiest bit with the oppressor.
This is one of the many reasons why the main character of Gonzalo Reyes’ Las Lindas made my skin crawl. So disgusted, in fact, that it almost made me lose sight of the two things this webcomic is really about.
Now, most of the links in this review are relatively safe for work. There’s some nudity, but not too much. STILL, I highly advise you to click on these links from the comfort of home. With no kids around. In fact, this review should come with the following notification: “WARNING — LINKS MAY CONTAIN WELL-ENDOWED COWS.”
One Punch Reviews #28: Girls & Sports
February 24, 2010 at 4:55 pm | Posted in 1 Star, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, comedy webcomic, webcomics | 10 CommentsTags: Girls & Sports, ESPN, Girls and Sports
Back when I was in grad school, I knew a guy who work at ESPN.com. Right now I have half a mind to call him up, and, after some friendly conversation, ask, “Who was the guy responsible for getting Girls & Sports on Page 2? Because, dear God, he needs to be be fired… AND savagely beaten.” Because not only do I absolutely hate Girls & Sports with the burning strength of a thousand suns (by Justin Borus and Andrew Fienstein), the very existence of the comic on ESPN.com’s Page 2 (where it’s been featured almost every day since January 25th) unleashed a latent hatred of ESPN.com.
One Punch Reviews #26: Scott Meets Family Circus
February 12, 2010 at 5:00 am | Posted in 1 Star, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, comedy webcomic, spoof, webcomics | 9 CommentsTags: Family Circus, Scott Meets Family CIrcus
The spoof Scott Meets Family Circus by comedian Scott Gairdner has found itself an unlikely battle between two titans of journalism: The Huffington Post and the Washington Post. It all started when Huffington praised the spoof and posted several selections on its site. Back at the Washington Post, Michael Cavna of the Comic Riffs section shot back that Scott Meets Family Circus was “a calcified deposit of seriously unfunny on the humorous “humerus” that is the HuffPost’s funny bone.” Oh, snap, son! That’s, like, trash talk straight out of an Ivy League playground!
So who’s right? The Post … or The Post? Perhaps a site that specializes in webcomics can cast the deciding vote. Perhaps a site like … The Webcomic Overlook.
Continue reading One Punch Reviews #26: Scott Meets Family Circus…
The Webcomic Overlook #106: Raine Dog
January 29, 2010 at 9:42 am | Posted in 1 Star, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, dramatic webcomic, furry webcomic, slice-of-life webcomic, webcomics | 30 CommentsTags: Raine Dog
D. C. Simpson is probably one of the most successful webcomic creators today. Her first published comic strip, Ozy & Millie, won an impressive number of awards: the 1999 College Media Advisers Award for Best Strip Cartoon, the Ursa Major Award in 2002, 2006, and 2007, and the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Awards in 2002. (Remember those?) She also struck gold last year when her comic strip, Girl, won Amazon.com’s Comic Strip Superstar contest and was awarded a publishing contract from Andrews McMeel Universal.
So I don’t doubt that D. C. Simpson has talent. But, then again, so did the people behind Dreamcatcher, which was a terrible movie but had a two-time Oscar winner writing the screenplay and Morgan Freeman on screen. Talented people make bad mistakes. And sometimes the worst missteps happen on the most personal, autobiographical projects.
In D. C. Simpson’s case, it’s Raine Dog, the comic she hosts on Keenspot. It’s a webcomic responsible for spawning a minor internet meme, and for good reason: it contains quite possibly some of the most baffling and ludicrous scenes I’ve ever encountered in webcomics.
The Webcomic Overlook #96: Jack
September 17, 2009 at 8:44 pm | Posted in 1 Star, The Webcomic Overlook, WCO Big Review, adult webcomic, furry webcomic, gothic, horror webcomic, webcomics | 81 Comments
Oh, Lord, the things I do for this site.
Inevitably people ask me, “I you hate a webcomic so much, why don’t you read something else and leave this poor comic alone?” The question is usually phrased less fluently, and the spelling is usually more atrocious, but that’s the gist of it. The answer to that question is rather complex. I, in fact, wrote an entire essay on it, cover such things as increased readership, a verbalization of what to look for, and, my favorite, revenge.
There’s one other reason that I didn’t cover in my essay: the triple-dog double dare.
Not too long ago, a loyal reader of The Webcomic Overlook suggested that I ransom my mental sanity by actually reading and reviewing Jack. I won’t reveal his name, but he does write a comic I like where a green haired girl runs around totally starkers. (And it’s pretty good, too … surprisingly.) This reader was quite likely Lucifer himself. I swear I smelled the faintest whiff of brimstone as I was reading his e-mail.
However, against my better judgment, I decided to take him up on this challenge. To quote Nathan Rabin: “I was motivated by the purest, most powerful impulse known to man: the need to prove myself intellectually to an anonymous stranger on the Internet.” So I did some stretches, a couple deep breaths as prescribed by my sexy lady trainer on the Wii Fit, and plunged into the world of Jack.
The following is a sordid recollection of what happened next.
WARNING: The content below is definitely not kid-friendly, and is most likely not safe for work. Let’s just say if you click on any of the links, and your boss decides to send you straight to a company licensed psychiatrist, then it was your own damn fault.
One Punch Reviews #23: Fatawesome
July 10, 2009 at 7:37 am | Posted in 1 Star, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, comedy webcomic, webcomics | 12 CommentsTags: Fatawesome
Earlier this week, I credited Cracked.com for jumpstarting the readership of the very excellent Daisy Owl. Now comes the yang to that ying. That magazine is not quite the greatest arbiter of good taste. Eventhough I’m almost certain that its readership is composed of 90% nerds, the humor can best be described as “fratboyish.” Which, in a sense, means that Fatawesome, a recent recepient of Cracked.com’s seal of approval, is a better representative of everything that Cracked stands for.
But what does that mean, exactly? Cracked is actually pretty good from time to time — the internet equivalent of junk food. Is Fatawesome the Angus burger and fries of webcomics?
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